Cooking is passion.
Cooking is science.
In fact, cooking, in my opinion, is the most passionate science. There is nothing greater than “slaving over a hot stove all day” to prepare a meal to serve to your friends and family.
Food is so essential to the existence of mankind, yet it’s such a huge part of every culture. In America alone there are two channels devoted to food and the preparation of it (Food Network and The Cooking Channel). Not to mention every city has multiple festivals celebrating this fundamental thing needed for life.
Of all the great chefs and cooks I’ve been exposed to, I believe Julia Child was the most passionate chef to live today.
Julia always loved eating, but she didn’t start out as a chef. In fact, she attended Smith College to become a writer and met her husband while she was working for the Office of Strategic Services (similar to the CIA).
Julia fell in love with France and its cuisine when her and her husband, Paul, moved to Paris. She later attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, wrote a cookbook and started a cooking school of her own.
Julia is a personal hero of mine, because we’re both extremely tall, obnoxious and love butter. She also became a well-known figure in the culinary world during her time—a profession ruled by men at the time.
I cannot describe the countless hours spent in front of my TV watching Julia when I was young. I thought she was the coolest lady I’d ever seen.
My love of cooking shows progressed. Watching Julia opened the door to the Food Network constantly being on my TV, which led me to Alton Brown.
Alton showed me the world where cooking is a beautiful, tasty science. Everything has rules: from simple tips like using citrus to keep apples and avocados from turning brown to the complexities of yeast breads, where anything but precision will yield a poor product.
Alton’s show Good Eats explores a new ingredient or well-known dish with every show. He proves with every episode that cooking is a science.
Some areas in cooking are more delicate than others, but if you know what rules you need to follow, making delicious, healthy meals for yourself is quite simple, easy and fun.
So go out! Buy a cookbook for beginners, I suggest “Take This Dish and Twist It” by George Duran.
Don’t be afraid! Everyone has undercooked a chicken (don’t eat it!) or burned pasta (I set my stove on fire once). Check back weekly for new posts to help you understand this wonderful world of food.
Sharp Knives and Open Flames 